Erskine Bridge

Erskine Bridge
View of the Erskine Bridge from the south bank of the River Clyde.
Official name	Erskine Bridge (A898)
Carries	Motor vehicles, cyclists, pedestrians
Crosses	River Clyde
Locale	Erskine, Scotland
Design	Box girder bridge
Width	Dual two-lane carriageway, two cycle/footpaths 31.25 m (102.5 ft)
Longest span	305 m (1,001 ft)
Vertical clearance	45 m (148 ft)
Opened	2 July 1971
Toll	Free
Daily traffic	~35,000 vehicles
Coordinates	55°55′13″N 4°27′44″W / 55.92028°N 4.46222°W / 55.92028; -4.46222Coordinates: 55°55′13″N 4°27′44″W / 55.92028°N 4.46222°W / 55.92028; -4.46222

The Erskine Bridge is a multi span cable-stayed box girder bridge spanning the River Clyde in west central Scotland.^[1] The bridge connects West Dunbartonshire with Renfrewshire and can be used by all types of motor vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians. The bridge is also known as the A898 which is its official road name.^[2] The bridge replaced the Erskine to Old Kilpatrick ferry service.^[3]

Construction

The bridge was designed by William Brown (16 September 1928 – 16 March 2005). Brown was a structural engineer and bridge designer who specialised in suspension bridges. He was one of the principal designers at Freeman Fox & Partners (now Hyder Consulting) from 1956 to 1985. The supervising engineer on the project was Dr Oleg Kerensky. The architect on site was R.E. Slater. There were several firms who constructed the bridge between 1967-71. The structural engineering was done by Freeman Fox & Partners. The contractors for the bridge structure were Fairfields-Mabey. W.A.Fairhurst and Partners (now Fairhurst) designed and oversaw construction of the concrete piers and foundations. Christiani & Nielsen, Lehane Mackenzie and Shand Ltd were the contractors for the foundations and piers. The steel cable supplier was Bridon International. Force Technology was responsible for wind tunnel testing. The deck and pylons are made from steel. The piers are made from concrete. The road surface is mastic asphalt. It has a 305 m (1,001 ft) main span and two 110 m (360 ft) approach spans. The width of the road deck is 31.25 m (102.5 ft). The pylons are 38 m (125 ft) high. The total length of the bridge including approaches is 1,321.87 m (4,336.8 ft). The clearance of the bridge is 45 m (148 ft). The weight of the steel is 11,700 tonnes. The bridge used 1250 miles of galvanised wire during construction. The breaking load of the wires is 500 tonnes.^[4][5][6][7] The bridge has 15 spans in total and rests on 14 diamond shaped piers which have been designed to allow air to circulate freely around them. The deck and piers have been designed to flex with temperature changes. The cycle tracks can be configured to include a third lane in the event of the bridge traffic numbers increasing. The bridge also has 4 water mains pipes and 2 gas pipes running the full length of the underside of the bridge.^[8][9] It is the only bridge in Scotland with single cables over central main supports and was a precursor of the Millau Viaduct in France.^[5] The bridge cost including approaches was £10.5million.^[10] The bridge was opened on 2 July 1971 by HRH Princess Anne.^[11] The ceremonial plaque of the opening of the bridge can be viewed on the railings of the western footpath, at the centre of the main span.

Whilst constructing the bridge, the West Gate Bridge in Australia also designed by Freeman Fox & Partners, collapsed. An investigation published on 14 July 1971 found faults in the design by Freeman Fox & Partners. The reason for collapse was a difference in camber between 2 girders on the west span. The Erskine Bridge had already opened but needed further stiffening to meet new standards established due to the collapse of the West Gate Bridge.^[1]

The bridge operates an overload weight detection system. The system logs vehicles axle weights. The weigh in motion system uses electric sensors and an ANPR camera. There is also a camera that takes photos of the vehicle from side-on which can identify the haulage company at fault. The system can also check if HGV axles are lifted when they should not be. This system is operational 24 hours a day and reports can be printed for overweight vehicles.^[12]

Geography

The bridge itself is the A898 road and its short approach from the south is the M898 motorway which is a spur from the M8 motorway. The bridge connects Erskine in Renfrewshire on the south side to the A82 (Great Western Road) at Old Kilpatrick in West Dunbartonshire on the northern side. The bridge is set at a high level to allow the passage of shipping beneath.^[10] The height of the bridge offers views of Erskine, Dumbarton, the River Clyde, Glasgow Airport and the Kilpatrick Hills. The area around the bridge has some historical significance as there have been various pieces of Roman artifacts found. Historical items found at the site include Roman coins known as sestertius and a crannog which is an artificial island.^[13][14] The bridge is the most downstream of all the Clyde bridges and is the last point at which the estuary can be crossed by road. Its main function is to divert traffic away from Glasgow and the urban stretches of the A82 which run through the city's West End and outer suburbs. The location of the bridge means that the bridge is used by tourist traffic from Glasgow International Airport bound for Loch Lomond and the north west Highlands.^[4]

Toll bridge

The bridge was a toll bridge until 31 March 2006. Apcoa Parking UK Ltd collected tolls on the bridge from June 1992. The 1 March 2006 saw the Transport Minster publish a Tolls Suspension Order following an announcement that the tolling was to cease after 31 March 2006.^[15] The bridge had briefly been free of charge before - in 2001 an oversight caused the legislative order enforcing the toll to lapse and drivers crossed free until the new legislation was enforced.^[16] At this point the contract for toll collection was put out to tender and was re-awarded to Apcoa from 1 April 2002.^[17] The contract for toll collection expired on 31 March 2006. The tolls from the beginning of the 1992-93 accounting period tolls had been a flat rate of 60p on all vehicles, except motorcycles and exempt categories. A discount of 10% was available to those purchasing 50 pre-paid crossing vouchers. Fire and police vehicles, ambulances, maintenance vehicles, and vehicles displaying disabled badges were exempt.^[17] The bridge was one of only three toll bridges left in Scotland when the tolls were abolished.^[18] The others were the Forth Road Bridge and the Tay Road Bridge. The tolls were abolished on those bridges on 11 February 2008.^[19] The bridge had collected £72 million in tolls by 2001 and collected £5.676m in the last operating year.^[20][21] Its current traffic levels are estimated at 35,000 vehicles per day. The bridge was considered something of a white elephant given its elaborate design yet relatively low traffic levels compared to the congested Kingston Bridge further upstream.^[20] In the last accounting period between 1 April 2006 - 2 July 2006 whilst the tolls were free the bridge saw an increase in traffic on the previous year by 27.33%.^[22] The bridge is now part of the trunk road network of Scotland and is the responsibility of Transport Scotland.^[23]

Events

There have been two known births on the bridge. The first was a boy who was born 19 September 1990. He was subsequently named Oliver Erskine Edwards in homage to the bridge. A second baby, Kiera Sarah-Marie McFettridge was born in an ambulance on the bridge on 18 January 2011.^[24] The bridge has been used once by a group of base jumpers in August 2010. A Royal Navy Westland Sea King helicopter from HMS Gannet, coastguard teams and officers from Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Service were all called out to the bridge following the incident.^[25] The bridge was also damaged when the Texaco Captain platform collided with the underside of the road deck on 4 August 1996. The oil rig was constructed upstream at Clydebank before being towed down the River Clyde.^[26] The bridge reopened to pedestrians and cyclists on 22 August 1996. This was followed by cars and motorcycles on 30 August 1996. The bridge was fully opened again to heavy goods vehicles on 22 December 1996. The cost of the repairs was £3.6 million with a further £700,000 in lost revenue from tolls.^[27] The bridge has also been the subject of a murder investigation and ensuing court case after parts of a man's dismembered body were found underneath the bridge in late 2001. Another man was subsequently arrested and convicted for this crime.^[28]

Suicides

The bridge is one of Scotland's most notorious suicide spots: estimates suggest that more than fifteen people commit suicide there each year.^{[29][30][31][32][33][34][35]} This has led to the Samaritans placing signs at each path leading onto the bridge and also within four public telephone boxes that are situated on the twin footpaths running adjacent to the roadway on either side of the river. There are also normal SOS phones as seen on motorways nationwide. The bridge was brought into the media spotlight again after the death of two young girls who absconded from a nearby secure unit.^[36][37][38] In September 2011, work started to install suicide barriers along the length of the bridge to prevent future suicide attempts. The installation of the new barriers was completed by Amey Highways at a cost of £3.5 million.^[39] The vehicle barriers are also being upgraded. The new barriers being installed are H4a High Containment Vehicle Barriers. These works will also see the towers and the suspension cables being re-painted. Stage one of this upgrade started on 15 July 2013 and is scheduled to last for 12 months. The upgrade is being undertaken by Highway Barrier Solutions and will cost £6 million. Whilst this upgrade is ongoing the traffic is being monitored by Bluetooth technology. There are detectors on the bridge entry points which feed live traffic reports to the Traffic Scotland website.^[40]

See also

• List of places in West Dunbartonshire
• List of places in Renfrewshire
• List of longest cable-stayed bridge spans
• Transport in Scotland

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Erskine Bridge.

v t e River Clyde Administrative areas South Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire City of Glasgow West Dunbartonshire Renfrewshire Inverclyde Argyll and Bute Flows into Firth of Clyde, then North Channel Towns (upstream to downstream) Elvanfoot Abington Symington New Lanark Lanark Wishaw Motherwell Hamilton Bothwell Uddingston Cambuslang Rutherglen Glasgow Renfrew Clydebank Bearsden Old Kilpatrick Dumbarton Port Glasgow Greenock Helensburgh Gourock Dunoon Major tributaries (upstream to downstream by confluence) Daer Water Potrail Water Duneaton Water Medwin Water Douglas Water Mouse Water River Nethan Avon Water South Calder Water North Calder Water River Kelvin River Cart River Leven Major bridges and Crossings (upstream to downstream) Clyde's Bridge Wolfclyde Bridge Thankerton Bridge Hyndford Bridge Clydesholm Bridge Crossford Bridge Garrion Bridge Clyde Bridge Bothwell Bridge Haughhead Bridge Clydeford Bridge Cambuslang Bridge Bogleshole Road Bridge Auchenshuggle Bridge Dalmarnock Bridge Dalmarnock Railway Bridge Rutherglen Bridge Polmadie Bridge King's Bridge St. Andrew's Suspension Bridge Pipe Bridge and Weir Albert Bridge City Union Bridge Victoria Bridge South Portland Street Suspension Bridge Glasgow Bridge Caledonian Railway Bridge George V Bridge Tradeston Bridge Kingston Bridge Clyde Arc Bell's Bridge Millennium Bridge Clyde Tunnel Renfrew Ferry Erskine Ferry Erskine Bridge Longest UK rivers Severn Thames Trent Great Ouse Wye Ure/Ouse Tay Spey Clyde Tweed Avon Nene Eden Dee